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Monday, July 29, 2013

Thief pointed handgun at staff in the Carlton during raid this afternoon

Raiders are believed to have fled the seafront hotel on foot

Jewellery stores on Cannes seafront are often targeted by armed robbers

Jeweler to the stars: The stolen jewels belonged
to luxury jeweler Chopard, which has furnished a host of stars on
red-carpet events such as British model Cara Delevingne, pictured
wearing its diamonds this year

Glittering: Penelope Cruz, left, and Dita Von Tease, right, have also been seen wearing Chopard pieces this year

Vique said authorities are looking
for a lone suspect who broke in through French doors at the hotel that
opens out onto Cannes’ famed Croisette. The suspect then fled on foot.

Wearing a crash helmet and scarf
wrapped around his face, the robber walked into the Carlton, on the
French Riviera, just before midday yesterday and brandished his firearm
at terrified staff. He
then strode past patrolling security guards into a bedroom where the
haul was being stored and stuffed them into an executive attache before
strolling casually out of the hotel.He then made off on foot through the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette
which stretches a mile and a half along the Cannes seafront and is
thronged by the rich and famous throughout the year.It
also emerged today that French police were not notified that the
collection of gem-laden trinkets and upmarket watches were going on
public display at an 'Extraordinary Diamonds' exhibition at the hotel.‘The man responsible for this crime apparently walked in the main entrance to the hotel and helped himself,' said one officer. 'It is usual practice for people to
inform us when so much expensive jewellery is going on display but on
this occasion we did not know about it.'The
stolen jewels were made by luxury jeweler Chopard and were destined for
an exhibition organised by Leviev, a firm owned by London-based
Russian-Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.On
its website, Leviev, which opened its first jewellery store in London
on Old Bond Street in 2006, claims to have access to stones 'among the
most outstanding in the world.'

Raid: A police car is seen outside the Carlton hotel, in Cannes, today after thieves fled with £35million worth of jewellery

An unnamed American woman working for
Chopard, the Swiss jeweller and festival sponsor, was keeping the items
in her second-floor room at the hotel.Chopard
had 40 staff at Cannes who tried to persuade stars to wear its
products. Julianne Moore, Cindy Crawford and Cara Delevingne were all
seen wearing Chopard pieces this year.Union
representatives at the Carlton, which is a favourite of numerous film
stars, have also expressed concern at the lack of security around
prestige exhibitions. In
August 1994, a security guard was shot at the Carlton as he tried to
stop thieves making off with gems in a similar exhibition.

In
a bitter irony, the Carlton is the setting for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955
film To Catch A Thief, a romantic thriller starring Grace Kelly and Cary
Grant about a jewel thief operating in the Riviera.One expert noted that the crime followed recent jail escapes by members of the notorious Pink Panther jewel thief gang.On
Thursday, Milan Poparic escaped his Swiss prison after accomplices
rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s. He
is the third member of the gang to escape from a Swiss prison in as many
months. According to
Interpol, the Pink Panthers targeted luxury watch and jewellery stores
in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States, netting more
than £380million. Jonathan
Sazonoff, the US editor of the Museum Security Network website, said:
‘The brazen drama of it is their style. The possibility of the
re-emergence of the Pink Panther gang is very troubling and taken
seriously by law enforcement worldwide. They’re a crime wave waiting to
happen.’The jewels
belonged to London-based Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev, who was holding
an exhibition of the prestigious Leviev diamond house in the hotel
lobby over the summer.

Heist: The jewellery was at a temporary exhibition at the Carlton which was being organised by Leviev

A source at the hotel said:
‘The raid took place in broad daylight when there were hundreds of
holidaymakers enjoying the sunshine.It
could not have been more audacious. The thief took advantage of the
crowds and the relaxed Sunday atmosphere – he could easily have had
others working with him.’ A Cannes police spokesman said: ‘A full and urgent operation is under way to catch the culprit and recover these jewels.’ Organised
gangs frequently target boutiques and hotels in and around Cannes. Many
of the raids turn out to be inside jobs, with staff helping thieves to
locate and then steal items.In May, jewellery worth £1million was stolen from a hotel safe during the annual Cannes Film Festival.The
343-room InterContinental Carlton is a favourite of the stars, and is
considered the ‘celebrity HQ’ during the film festival.In August 1994, three men firing machine guns burst into the Carlton and robbed its jewellery store.Later, it was discovered the gang were firing blanks.There
have been several high-profile jewellery thefts in Europe this year,
including one at Brussels airport in February which saw £32million worth
of diamonds taken.

French Rivera: The Carlton hotel which was targeted by raiders is on the seafront in Cannes

The biggest-ever diamond heist
was at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam in 2005. Dressed in stolen uniforms
belonging to the Dutch airline KLM and driving a stolen KLM van,
thieves hijacked an armoured truck containing uncut diamonds worth an
estimated £50million. They have never been recovered.Russian-Israeli
Mr Leviev, 57, lives in a £35million home in Hampstead, North-West
London. The father-of-nine started his jewellery business in a boutique
in London’s Old Bond Street in 2006, and the Leviev house now runs
upmarket stores in cities including New York and Dubai.The
film To Catch a Thief stars Grant as a former cat burglar struggling to
save his reformed reputation by catching a new thief preying on the
wealthy tourists of the French Riviera.

Himself a former trafficker of stolen art, Turbo Paul Hendry M.A. provides information to the readers of his blogs (including collectors, victims, insurers, and other members of the public) regarding the latest news from the world of stolen art and artifacts and, wherever possible, he assists in the recovery of art and artifacts stolen by others. Art Hostage, for the last Ten years, has provided services to private individuals, insurers, law enforcement agencies, and to those who have information that will lead to the recovery of stolen art.